DTS Mission and Expanded Statement of Purpose

Mission Statement

The mission of Dallas Theological Seminary as a professional, graduate-level school is to glorify God by equipping godly servant-leaders for the proclamation of His Word and the building up of the body of Christ worldwide.

Expanded Statement of Purpose

Dallas Theological Seminary is a professional, graduate-level theological seminary that seeks to provide training at the master’s and doctoral levels to prepare its students for a variety of Christian ministries.

As a professional, graduate-level theological institution of higher learning, Dallas Seminary seeks to provide training for specific Christian ministries and to encourage the pursuit of Christian scholarship at the highest levels of research befitting the mission of a theological seminary.

While the doctrinal commitment of the Seminary is intentionally evangelical, Dallas Theological Seminary seeks to provide a contribution to a broader constituency through community, theological and ecclesiastical involvement, and dialogue.

The Seminary seeks to maintain an appropriate balance between the training it provides for effective vocational ministries and the academic rigors necessary to graduate those who will research, write, and teach at the highest levels of theological education. As both a professional and graduate-level educational institution, the Seminary is committed to providing the appropriate support services, departments, resources, and facilities to accomplish the mission of the institution.

In order to equip men and women for ministry as godly servant-leaders, Dallas Theological Seminary encourages the development of godly character in each of its students.

The Seminary is committed to the preparation of students who are deeply committed to Jesus Christ and are marked by biblical and theological knowledge and maturing spirituality, along with the skills necessary for their future ministries.

Students are encouraged to grow spiritually in their personal relationship with God, to function responsibly within the Christian community, and to engage and witness to the world from a life of faith and integrity.

Dallas Seminary is committed to helping leaders develop a biblical philosophy of servant-hearted leadership as defined by Jesus Christ and as modeled by Him and the other godly individuals depicted in the Scriptures. Such leadership results from the gracious working of God through a person’s experience, training, spiritual gifting, natural talents, and the enablement of God’s Spirit.

Dallas Theological Seminary is committed to its founding ideal that the central subject of study is the entire Bible.

Dallas Seminary stands unequivocally committed to the Bible as God’s inerrant, infallible, and authoritative written revelation. Members of the school’s boards and faculty subscribe to the Seminary’s doctrinal statement, which is uniquely complete and detailed, thus helping safeguard the school’s unwavering theological stance since its founding.

The Seminary’s commitment to the Scriptures leads to a framework of doctrine in which the great fundamentals of the Christian faith are armed and expounded. Te doctrines of evangelical orthodoxy are taught in the framework of premillennial, dispensational theology, derived from a consistent grammatical-historical interpretation of the Bible. Those truths include such essentials as the authority and inerrancy of Scripture, the Trinity, the full deity and humanity of Christ, the spiritual lostness of the human race, the substitutionary atonement and bodily resurrection of Christ, salvation by faith alone in Christ alone, and the physical return of Christ.

The goal of all biblical and theological instruction is to glorify God through a transformed life that is manifested by a wholehearted love for God and a servant-hearted love for others.

In order to prepare godly servant-leaders who reflect the heart of God, Dallas Seminary is committed to a worldwide vision of Christian ministry.

Dallas Seminary is committed to fulfilling the mandate of Jesus to make disciples of all nations. The Seminary community is enriched and has its vision for ministry expanded by the presence of students from a wide variety of countries and ethnic backgrounds.

Dallas Seminary embraces a wide context of ministries. Training for vocational ministry is the primary purpose for which the Seminary was founded and now exists. A secondary purpose is to provide theological training for those who choose to remain in their professions but who desire to be trained for leadership and a more effective ministry in the church.

Dallas Seminary is firmly committed to promoting the missionary endeavor throughout the world. This commitment is demonstrated in a variety of ways that provide both exposure and experience for students in the diverse nature of missions and the unique opportunities for vocational service in missions around the world.